You guys can clearly see how the special stage ring from S1 looks a lot like the regular rings right? The S3K rings look exactly like the special stage ring which obviously says they were aiming for that shape all along.

Let's not go by artwork, commercials, out-sourced games (Chaotix rings), or your own personal preference. Simply voting on what you like is not going to work in this case since some peoples desired interpretation stray far away from what's right in front of them. Keeping it as close to original as possible is really the option since this is such an important part of the game.

That said I think 4 has the closest shape though still not perfect. It could also use some sharper definition between the light, mid, and dark shades. (Dark shades don't need to be any darker; just the transition between levels of shade need to be more defined to help it look more metallic)

None of the above. Am I the only one who can see that a rendered ring looks really, really dumb next to hand-drawn sprites?

Make it look DRAWN.

Wow. I have to admit that I hadn't even really thought about this. The whole time the rings looked a bit out of place and I didn't know why - but I think this is it right here.

I'm going to vote for 4, mostly because I like the shape. I think it could be a little thinner (width) and a little flatter on the inside of the ring, but I like the shading and think that it's the closest of the bunch. Looking again, if 5 were a bit thinner with 4's shading, I'd love it to pieces. Looking AGAIN I see that 4 just needs to be a touch thinner and that the shape on the inside is fine.

Ok the more I look at it the more I can't make a decision - 4 is great. I see how you all can say it's different from the original, but I strongly feel it's because the original was so pixelated that you can't possibly match it with quality art. My vote is to find a ring that matches the style of the rest of the art (not the original in Sonic 2) and to go with it.

Considering that the hoax S2HD is based on actually had improved graphics, maybe we shouldn't be selecting the ring nearest to the original, but the one that actually looks the best =P

This.

Im one of the guys that prefer best looking sprites to original sprites... So its #2 for me I think, they don't clash as that much with the rest of the art, they are shiny, they have a nice glow... Its the same type of art that I draw and I like.

I think the thicker rings should be completely out of the question anyway. I've never seen a Sonic game with rings that thick compared to their heights and widths.

In fact taking a ring from one of the 3D games might not be the worst idea in the world. If they still look similar to the Sonic 2 ones you'll have a better base.

Out of these options 3's probably your best choice.

It looks like everybody is trying to make it look look "toony" which is fine for most things, but the ring needs to look metallic. You just can't get the right effect when you use the toon shading effect. On top of it, there seems to be too much emphasis on retaining the original ring look. You just can't have it with the rings. I agree with Black Squirrel here except I think that either 1 or 5 would be the best, with leaning towards 5 only because it is more yellow than gold. My personal preference by a small margin would be 1, but it doesn't look right contrasted with the rest of the area.

You guys can clearly see how the special stage ring from S1 looks a lot like the regular rings right? The S3K rings look exactly like the special stage ring which obviously says they were aiming for that shape all along.

Let's not go by artwork, commercials, out-sourced games (Chaotix rings), or your own personal preference. Simply voting on what you like is not going to work in this case since some peoples desired interpretation stray far away from what's right in front of them. Keeping it as close to original as possible is really the option since this is such an important part of the game.

-I'm stupid-That said I think 4 has the closest shape though still not perfect. It could also use some sharper definition between the light, mid, and dark shades. (Dark shades don't need to be any darker; just the transition between levels of shade need to be more defined to help it look more metallic)
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After taking a peek at the WIP General Art thread, I'm going to have to say none of them fit especially well, too. I agree with Scarred Sun and Chimpo, they clash too much with the rest of the art and should look more handdrawn to match the rest of the foreground sprites, not rendered. And honestly, if you guys aren't adding any frames to the rest of the sprites, I see no reason to add more frames to the rings. That just makes them look even less fitting. If you're going to add frames, try not to make it look like an obvious "stock" rotating 3D ring.